Archives – March, 2008
source: ChristianWomanToday.com
by: janet
March 31, 2008
I wrote this post on September 4, 2007 when my son started showing readiness for potty training. I was very excited then. Now, todate… he’s already potty trained… at 3 years and 5 months old. He’s not fully nappy free coz I still put nappy for him at night when he goes to sleep. He sleeps so deeply at night so it’s hard for him to wake up just to go to the potty. I can wait on this area since I know a lot of friends that are still putting their kids’ nappies on (during sleeping time at night) even at 7 years of age.
Here’s the article:
My son has been showing potty readiness this past one week! Hurray! It has been a long time since I wanted to potty train him, but he seemed not ready yet until at least early this week. He told me he wanted to wee-wee in the bathroom. That’s a real good sign that he’s all ready to be trained!
I actually planned to train him last year, when he was turning 2 coz I thought he was old enough to do so. But his pediatrician told me to delay the training coz I was pregnant and gonna give birth that time. She said that if I started training him, when the new baby comes, there’s a risk that we were going to start the process all over again.
I’m glad I listened. Otherwise, I’ll just get frustrated.
So, when actually is the right time to potty train them kids? Our oldies would say that we can start potty training even as young as 6 months!Age is one factor to consider to start potty training. However, age is not enough to consider. According to this source there’s physiological, psychological and physical factors to be considered.
Phsysiological readiness means the child can control his bladder. I noticed that today, when my son asked me to go with him to the bathroom coz he wanna wee-wee, i saw that the nappy was still dry. And the last time I changed his nappy was like more than 2 hours ago already.
This also means that a child must be willing! Willing to sit on the potty – when we bought our son’s potty, and we told him it was going to be his potty and he was going to do his “job” there, he refused to sit on it. Let alone touch it!
Psychological readiness means the child is able to recognize that he’s doing it (wee-wee or void). I think the fact that he asked me he wanted to wee-wee was a sign that he’s ready psychologically. Also, if the child is aware that he’s doing it, then he’s ready. My boy used to not care even if he has done it already. Let mommy smell it and it’s good enough! Now, he complains when he did it already. “Mommy, I wanna change nappy.”
Physical readiness means the child can walk to and out of the bathroom, can sit, and pull his pants up and down. Now, I wonder how mothers can train a child who’s not physically ready yet. I’m sure they had a very tough time, they had to carry and do everything for the child. Maybe, if I was willing to do all this for my son when he was not walking yet, probably I would have one difficult time, with my bulging tummy and all that! Kudos to mothers who sacrificially do all these for their kids!
Things to remember when we start training our kids to potty is never to push them to do it. The more we push, the more they resist, and all the more it will be so frustrating for mothers. Also, when they show readiness and tell you they wanna do it, acknowledge it and give him praises. This way, it will encourage him more to tell us when he’s ready to go. Also, we need to be really consistent and patient in the process.
Last but not the least, when it comes to potty, we not only check whether our child is ready or not, we also check ourselves whether we are ready or not because if we’re not ready, we’ll just contribute to the stress in the process. Both child and the mother (or whoever is training the child), must be ready. This way, we will be assured of smooth and successful result!
I hope I’ll be patient and consistent enough to go through this with him. It will be a lot of help if he is potty trained already, at least financially wise… no need to add the nappy cost in the budget!
Also, you might be interested in these articles:
On Disciplining a Child
RBW – Enhance Your Baby’s Brain Development
Benefits of a Playgroup
by: janet
March 27, 2008
I have bought a custom domain for my other blog. It’s kind of a family blog and private so I’m not gonna tell you the link. Hehehe. Oh well, a few of my friends know about it already. I will leave it up to you to find out it for yourself. That was actually my first blog for blogspot which I set up last year in May. I have abandoned it coz I was trying to avoid something. But this year, when I started this get paid to blog business, I revived it and monetized it coz I realized it has PR2. But since I wasn’t very careful, I lost its PR. And I decided to buy a custom domain for it, from Blogger itself. It’s very cheap actually. It only cost me 10$ per year.
I have found this
best web hosting article written by a blogger named Kaushal Sheth. He basically blogged about the best web hosting companies he had done research about and what he thought about the best web hosting at such a cheap rate and has a great support technically.
March 27, 2008
Credit is a way of life nowadays. Plastic money has been essential
in the personal finances of some. But what if you get into too much
trouble? What if your credit card debt has surmounted into an
amount that is way beyond your means and now difficult to settle?
Do you file for bankruptcy or you get a debt consolidation?
Filing a bankruptcy will forever hurt your financial history and a
simple debt consolidation may not always be the answer.
As I browsed the internet, I have found a new term used to help
get someone into a debt-free life by availing something like a
debt consolidation but even better! It is called debt settlement
and debt negotiation. These terms are used by
SuperiorDebtRelief.com. As I looked into their debt relief program,
I have found out that they have an outstanding way of settling
credit card debts. As decide to start your way into
taking steps to financial freedom, they assist you first
by letting you fill-up an online form or by calling them
in their toll-free number. They will give you a FREE
quote and will help you determine if you are eligible
to avail of their debt negotiation program. When you get
yourself approved, they will gather information on all your
credit card debts and unsecured balances from all
your creditors. From this, they will help you get the
most affordable monthly payments that will be kept in
a special account for you debt settlement. After which, a
negotiator will work on your behalf to help you get your
creditors consider your debt settlement issues.
Once your negotiator agrees on the offer your creditors
have given. They will send your debt settlement fund to
your creditor thus making your debts paid in full! Then you will be
placed in SuperiorDebtRelief.com’s program on helping
you secure a more financially stable future!
Isn’t that a wonderful company? They don’t just help you
settle your debts but they help you not to get into the
same problem again.
March 25, 2008
Two of our friends offered to take care of the kids so hubby and I could go out alone. We took up the offer since the last time we went out alone was last year in December. Also, it was a good time since this was the time of year where hubby and I (we were not married that time yet) prayed and fasted together for God’s will for us – whether we should step forward from being “just friends” to “more than just friends” relationship. That was 6 years ago, during the holy week.
And so we went to Sunway Pyramid (mall) and had Tony Roma’s for our lunch.
Had Bountiful beef ribs with french fries and broccoli. This, I tell you, is to die for. Really awesome.
Hubby wanted to surprise me to a spa, but it was a wrong time (first day of what women get once a month). So we went for a movie instead and took the couple seat.
Hope everybody had a great time, great food and at a great place with great people during the weekend. I just had. 
March 22, 2008
Discipline as defined by Wikipedia:
In its most general sense, discipline refers to systematic instruction given to a disciple. This sense also preserves the origin of the word, which is Latin discipl?ina, “instruction.”
To discipline thus means to instruct a person or animal to follow a particular code of conduct, or to adhere to a certain “order,” or to adopt a particular pattern of behaviour. So for example, to discipline a child to wash its hands before meals. Here, ‘washing hands before meals’ is a particular pattern of behaviour, and the child is being disciplined to adopt that pattern.
On child discipline. My children need discipline. I know. There are so many books that offer a range of advise on how to discipline kids. James Dobson’s are the ones that are very popular, at least in Christian community. To discipline a child, you have to get to know him/her very well. You have to know their personalities and characteristic.s Not only that, you have to know the different stages of children’s life to fully understand how they behave and why they behave that way.
A screaming child does not necessarily imply a negative behaviour. Do we straight away spank or scold our child because he screams? I don’t think so. We have to find the underlying reasons why he screams. This can be a baby’s way of letting his needs known or this can be an expression of frustration. For my son, screaming is his way of letting his stresses out. Once he’s in an uncomfortable situation, he screams. He also screams when there’s too much around him. He was displaying this behaviour from newborn until he could communicate his feelings well. Now, he does too, sometimes, especially when he’s imitating his baby sister. Only then we tell him not to scream. Now he listens and obeys us everytime we tell him not to scream. Tell a baby who still doesn’t understand or who still incapable of letting his needs known, and you will end up frustrated.
Discipline is one of the most challenging thing one could do as a parent or guardian. It takes effort, consisteny, respect, and above all, love.
1. Effort: Sometimes, it’s so easy to just let the negative behaviour pass. No stress, no explanation needed. However, it does take an effort to do discipline. My son was bitten twice. As parents, of course, we felt that biting was not a joke and must not be taken lightly. So when he did that to his sister at one point, my hubby and I agreed to never allow him to do that again. Ever. So we imposed a classic stand-in-the-corner discipline on him for the first time. He disliked the punishment so much he never did it again.
2. Consistency. This is another challenge. You can teach a child in one day and he would obey… but due to his short-term memory at a young stage, he could easily forget about it and do it again the next day. So we have to remind him time and time again. Consistency is very important. It tells a child you really are serious about it.
3. Respect. We need to respect them as we discipline them. If we scold our child in public, it may hurt his ego, resulting to insecurities and such. I really try not to scold/discipline him in public. Let others think I don’t discipline my child. His confidence is more important to me than impressing people or showing others I really discipline him. When he exhibits negative behaviour, I pull him out of the situation, take him to a private place and talk to him. He listens this way. It’s good ot do this way. Not only you preserve his integrity, you preserve his self confidence as well.
4. Above all, Love. We can read a lot of books on how to discipline a child with love. To spare the rod, or not, it really depends on the personality of the child. Or depends on our principles and beliefs. I believe in using the rod for my child. But if one uses the rod, one has to be sure it’s not out of anger but rod a child with love. Hard to do coz sometimes, we only use the rod when we couldn’t take it anymore. That means, when we’re already so stressful and angry.
I may have left out a lot more on what it takes to discipline. But I am very willing to learn from others who have tried and succeeded.
I have another book given to me by my brother-in-law and sister-in-law about disciplining a child. It’s called Making Children Mind without Losing Yours by Dr. Kevin Leman. I haven’t started reading yet. But I had looked thru it. One thing that caught my eyes were these verses, taken from the Bible, Ephesians 6:1-4
Children, obey your parents; this is the right thing to do because God has placed them in authority over you. Honor your father and mother. This is the first of God’s Ten Commandments that ends with a promise. And this is the promise: that if you honor your father and mother, yours will be a long life, full of blessings.
And now, a word to you parents. Don’t keep on scolding and nagging your children, making them angry and resentful. Rather, bring them up with the loving discipline the Lord Himself approves, with suggestions and Godly advise.
Pray, tell me, who can skip such best advise on rearing kids?
Also, you might be interested in these articles:
When Do We Start Potty Training
RBW – Enhance Your Baby’s Brain Development
Benefits of a Playgroup
by: janet
March 21, 2008
If the godly give in to the wicked,
its like polluting a fountain or muddying a spring.
Proverbs 25:26
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source: christianwomantoday.com
March 21, 2008
When I gave birth to my first child, I didn’t know anything about RBW. No one ever talked to me about it until he was 6 weeks old. My friend gave me a clown and a small ball (RBW) to hang to his mobile toy. I didn’t know the concept. So I just let it hang there. Then when he was two months old, I saw RBW flash cards while we were malling at Subang Parage. I quickly bought it. And it gave instructions on how to use it. The contrasting color should be able to catch baby’s attention. I posted them on a wall next to my baby’s cot and true enough, my boy kept staring at the cards.
What is RBW? RBW stands for the colors red, black and white. When the baby is born, the only colors she could see are those contrasting ones, the black against white. Then later, as she grows, add in red. But all these colors combined, it gives a special contrast. And when used for baby’s stimulation, can actually lengthen the baby’s attention span and enhance the baby’s brain development.
Piaget said that babies are born with a blank state. It’s the environment and experiences that mold a baby. I beg to disagree. I’m a great believer of the Bible and I believe when it said, before we were formed in our mother’s womb, God knew us already and that He has plans and purposes why we exist! That means, before we even came to life, we already had personalities, gifts and talents to make up to that purposes. That is an amazing thing.
However, we can enhance those talents and gifts God has given to us. And we can start at whatever age. Even before we are born, we can already do the stimulation by mothers talking, reading and singing to an unborn child.
And so one of the ways to enhance our development is to use RBW. There are so many stimulation available outhere but I’m a solid fan of RBW. There are RBW toys and designs that are available in the market nowadays but if we’re tight financially, we can do our own. Here are a few designs we can make.
For a newborn to three week old baby:
1. Draw a black dot (4 inches in diameter) at the center of white cardboard.
2. Draw a checkered design using black and white – 4 inches by 4 inches in each square.
3. Draw vertical lines using black and white – 4 inches in width per line.
For a 3- week to 2 month old baby:
1. You may decrease all the sizes by one inch. So for number one above, instead of drawing 4-inch dot, draw a 3- inch dot. Same goes with the 2 cards.
For 2 to 6- month old baby:
1. You can start adding in red color and decrease the sizes of the geometrical designs to one inch. And you can do more designs. Any geometrical designs will do.
How to do it?
Hold the first card 12 inches away from the baby’s eyesight for 1-2 minutes. Do the same for the other two cards. The baby can either be in a sitting position, with proper support or can be lying down. Whichever is more comfortable for her. When the baby reaches two months old, hold the card or any RBW objects 18 – 20 inches away from the baby’s eye sight.
When to use it?
When the baby is not hungry, sleepy or uncomfortable. You can do this 3 times a day for 15 minutes each time. But… please follow your baby’s lead. Once she starts looking away, put it on hold, let her rest and do it again later. Please do not over-stimulate her. You would know she’s over-stimulated when she cries.
Having said all these, bear in mind that there’s no stimulation as better as a parent’s love, care and attention (LCA). It is by our own parents’ (or primary caregiver’s) love, care and attention that we are nurtured. So don’t forget to give lots of cuddles, sing, talk and read to your baby, at whatever age.
Also, you might be interested in these articles:
When Do We Start Potty Training
On Disciplining a Child
Benefits of a Playgroup
by: janet
March 20, 2008
So this is my first post for my newly created blog. I am a mom to two kids and I would love to give tips to moms like myself. I make mistakes in parenting from time to time but I make sure I learn from that mistakes.
What is this blog all about? I am building this blog for the sole purpose of giving out tips especially in parenting. I may write some encouragements too for all you moms outhere. Believe me… being a mom is not easy. Let’s make it smooth by encouraging and giving out tips.
I would also love to receive tips and encouragement from you. So please don’t hesitate to share with me. I would very much appreciate it.
Parenting Tips begin…
by: janet
March 20, 2008
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